Page 41 of Falling for the Playboy Pilot

Of all the things I expected her to say, that wasn’t even on the list. I turned to look at her and scowled. I had to have heard her wrong. My mind was running through possible words with a different letter of the alphabet. Bookies? Dookies? Pookies?

I blinked. “What?”

“Cookies. Baking. It always makes me feel better. You don’t have to⁠—”

I considered my options. She didn’t ask me to hug her or talk, so baking cookies seemed like an easy out.

I stood up and offered her a hand. “Lead the way, Princess.”

She took my hand as I pulled her up. I unlocked the door and dropped her hand. “Maybe you should, uh, you know⁠—”

I gestured to her face. I didn’t know the tactful way to tell her she looked a mess and everyone was going to know she was crying. She nodded, wiping at her face with the sleeve of her flight suit. “Right. Give me a second.”

I stepped out into the hallway, leaning against the wall while she cleaned herself up. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to see us coming out of the bathroom together. That would be a rumor I didn’t need. I could already hear the jokes. And for me, I’d be fine, but people were dicks to the female half of the equation of these little rumors. They’d talk shit about her hooking up with me. They would assume she fell into my bed like so many women did.

Normally, I wouldn’t care. But Janna was different. I didn’t want her to have people talking about her like she was the type to bed hop. She might be, but I didn’t want to be the source of the rumors.

When she finally emerged from the bathroom, her face was less puffy, though her eyes were still a little red. She gave me a small, embarrassed smile. “Thanks for… you know.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said. “Let’s go make cookies.”

We walked to the main hall. The place was mostly empty now with everyone working on their various tasks. Someone had left music playing low on a speaker near the fridge. Chief hooked us up with a Spotify account. There was a TV but no one could ever agree on what to watch. I flipped to the country station and turned it up a bit.

She slipped her arms out of her sleeves so that her flight suit hung at her waist, revealing the T-shirt underneath.

“Now you’re in my domain,” she said with a smile.

“I’m just here for cookies.”

“You have to help,” she said. “Have you ever baked anything before?”

“No.”

Her face lit up. “Oh, you are mine, mister. You might know your way around in the sky, but I’m the queen of the kitchen.”

“Okay, Princess.”

She bossed me around like a drill sergeant. I had a feeling she was paying me back for the way I’d been with her throughout training. Janna did not hesitate to call out every single one of my mistakes. I measured wrong. Got the eggshell in the bowl. Tried to lick the spoon and got swatted with a spatula.

“Do not contaminate the dough, Dalton.”

“Aren’t we supposed to taste test the dough?” I asked.

“Technically, no. There are raw eggs in there, which is a salmonella risk.”

I rolled my eyes. “People have been eating cookie dough since the dawn of time.”

“I don’t think people that lived in caves made cookies.” She burst into laughter. “Why do I feel like you and I will always find a way to clash?”

“Because neither one of us likes taking shit from people,” I replied.

“On that, we can agree.”

We made three dozen chocolate chip cookies. She told me something about a secret ingredient that she brought with her from Alaska. Something about real vanilla. I honestly didn’t know the difference but she insisted it was the difference between a basic cookie and one of her cookies.

I checked the time and realized we’d been in the kitchen for a couple of hours. Because I was supposed to be off, I had planned on going back to my cabin, but as detours went, baking with Janna wasn’t so bad.

I ate my second cookie and had to admit they turned out better than I expected. They were soft, chewy, and just the right amount of sweet. Maybe it was the vanilla she used or maybe she had infused the treats with her essence, but they were the best damn thing I had ever tasted. Janna had insisted on packing a few in a Ziplock bag for me to take home, and I didn’t argue. I wasn’t much of a dessert guy, but these were special.

I drove back to my cabin with the bag of cookies sitting on the passenger seat. After a shower, I made myself a grilled cheese and took the bag of cookies out to the deck.

As I ate, I stared up at the stars, letting my mind wander. It didn’t take long for it to land on Janna. Today had not gone the way I expected. And I certainly never expected to end up baking cookies, but it had been a surprisingly nice time.

Heaven help me, but I had fun with her.